#shogo

Here's Kitty Pryde celebrating Chanukah in Genosha and remembering her father. Leading the special with an explicitly Jewish character observing a Jewish holiday is great, but the notion of saving the world by becoming president of the USA is a dubious one. The USA is an imperialist entity built on deep seated systemic inequality and worse. Even the most progressive of presidents is beholden to that. It doesn't mean we shouldn't try, but Kitty is kidding herself about 'saving the world the right way.'

Nature Girl hates Christmas, and it's hard to argue with her reasons. The parts about warmth are weird to me because I live in Australia where Christmas is always hot AF. One of the few days I hope for rain, tbh.

I'm not sure if Bobby quite understood what 'eschewing capitalism' means but this looks pretty fun. That tie dye X-Men tee slaps and I want one. I wonder what Kubark thinks of this human holiday.

This story with Magneto coming around on the pointlessness of lighting menorahs does the rounds every now and then, though not as much as I'd expect. The kids are particularly plucky and eloquent, and the one who emphatically tells Magneto he's wrong is a legend. I'm fond of any story where Magneto rethinks his beliefs, and this is a nice one.

It took me a while to notice that this is written by Charlamagne tha God, possibly because it's kinda funny to imagine Ororo knowing who that is. Idk why, I've just never seen any stories indicating that she's into Hip Hop culture. I like that it's a rejection of turning the other cheek where bigoted assholes are concerned. You can't reach some people, and there's no obligation to exhaust yourself trying. Fuck em. The Michelle Obama mention is a bit on the nose.

Old man Logan is cutting firewood and being gruff, as he does. Kurt gives him a picture of himself, which is a baller move. I was under the impression that this Logan was an alternate reality Logan, and doesn't have a particularly close relationship with these X-Men. Nothing about Logans makes sense, sometimes you just have to accept it as cute and cool.

Glob does stuff! Is that meant to be mistletoe? We don't have it down here. He nails up some plant matter and then chills by himself. Little bit depressing, but I can't talk.

Bobby Drake has a party! Interestingly neither Jewish nor Christian, but a pagan holiday that's become a bit more popular (like Christmas and Easter.) Hope is watching Cable do... something, in a recorded message from when she was the universe's most unpopular baby.

Some kids are sharing the rumour that Magneto merked Santa, which is hilarious. It's obviously untrue, not least because Santa is Mags' mutant brother. Kurt lectures them.

Jubilee beats up Arcade (yay!) and quotes Home Alone, rescuing Shogo (who's spending this Christmas as a dragon in Otherworld.) I really don't like Arcade, though he has done two excellent things. Torturing Sinister and creating the Proletarian - worker's hero of the Soviet Union.

How many days has it been since you last saw Shogo? How long has it been since you last kissed him? How much time has passed since you were in his arms?

It was hard to say anymore. For the longest time he seemed to always be by your side. You were attached at the hip and you loved every second of it. It felt like your life was perfect and you didn’t want to change a single thing.

You were the perfect team. You supported his idol career and he supported all of your dreams as well. He was always there for you when you really needed him. He’d listen to you and be a shoulder to cry on. You were always there to lift him up when he was feeling low. You also went to all of his concerts and cheered for him the loudest. 

When the two of you had time, he would teach you some of VISTY's dances and then the two of you would ballroom dance afterwards. Those were the best days and you always thought back on them fondly. To you, Shogo was your soulmate and you loved him more than anything else in the world.

How many days has it been since you last saw Shogo?

As of right now, you were in your car, in some parking lot somewhere, crying your eyes out. You had no idea how things got to be so bad. One day you were dancing and laughing together in the VISTY practice room. The next you’re screaming at each other and running away. Shogo has practically moved back in with the rest of VISTY and you go out for a drive every night just to find a new parking lot to break down at.

You thought you were perfect for each other. You got along so well. You were so in love with him. How could you not have seen all the cracks and bruises? What happened to the perfect love you both shared? Where did all of that go?

The tears kept coming as you wondered what happened and where to go from now. You couldn’t go back to that apartment. It was too much of you and him. You couldn’t go back anymore. But you had nowhere else to go. You were so lost, alone, and afraid. And that just made you cry even more.

You almost didn’t hear your phone go off. However, you managed to answer it. With a sniff, you spoke, “Aoi?”

“Are you okay? Are you crying?” He asked, his voice thick with worry.

You couldn’t lie to him. “Sorry. Yes, I’m okay. I just…yeah, I’m okay.”

He sighed. “You don’t sound okay. But considering the state Shogo is in, I don’t expect you to be.”

This has you worried now. “Shogo? What’s wrong? What happened to him?”

You hear Aoi shout to someone in the same room as him. “I told you they still cared about you!” Returning to your conversation, he said, “Hey, I need you to come to the dorms.”

“Why?”

“It’s Shogo. He’s been stressed and anxious for the longest time now. He finally told us the reason why and all of us believe the two of you need to come together and talk. I’ll make sure you both have the space you need for whatever happens, but please just come over. This needs to be solved right now.”

Before you could ask what he meant, he ended the call. Now you were really scared. Something was wrong with Shogo. Even if you two were in a rough patch, you didn’t want anything bad to happen to him. So you turned your car on and drove to VISTY's apartment. 

As soon as you arrived, Kantaro was the first one to find you. He didn’t answer any of your frantic questions. Instead he escorted you to Shogo's old room and told you to talk to him.

You opened the door and almost started crying again. He looked like a mess. He had eye bags and his hair was all over the place. You ran over to hug him before you could stop yourself. You felt the tears slip free when he hugged you back just as fiercely.

“I’m sorry.” He croaked out, his voice hoarse and thick with tears. “I’m sorry for everything. I shouldn’t have left and I shouldn’t have abandoned you. I’m such an idiot for doing this to you. You’re the best thing to ever happen to me and I’m just so sorry.”

“I forgive you.” You assured him. “Just tell me why.”

“It’s a stupid reason but I did it because I was scared. We were moving so fast and everything felt so perfect. I felt like something bad was going to happen and I was going to lose everything.” His breath hitched but he kept going, burying his head into your shoulder. “I guess I pushed you away before I got hurt again. And I’m so unbelievably sorry I did that to you. You didn’t deserve it. I’m so, so, so sorry.”

You shook your head. “Please don’t. Don’t say anything. We’re together now. And that’s all that should matter right now.”

He nodded. “You’re right. It’s the only thing that matters.”